Gazuntite and Pioneer GI have teamed up to bring specialist care to rural and underserved communities
WASHINGTON, DC, DC, UNITED STATES, October 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Pioneer GI practice based in Alaska has become a Founding Gastroenterology Specialist with Gazuntite, acquiring an ownership interest in the company and taking a national leadership role in its gastroenterology division. Dr. Ajay Pabby, Managing Partner of Pioneer GI, steps into the role of GI Service Line Director at Gazuntite. Drs. Ajay Pabby, Nicolas Villa, Miguel Ordonez, and Mariajose Rojas will define the clinical standards for every GI consultation across the Gazuntite network and assemble the gastroenterology team behind it.
A major challenge in America’s safety-net clinics is the shortage of specialist access. Gazuntite connects specialists directly with primary care providers in urban community health centers, rural health clinics, and tribal health systems, giving the treating clinician rapid specialist input rather than a referral that can take months. Data from published eConsult programs and Gazuntite’s own operations show that roughly two-thirds of those cases never require an outside referral. For Pioneer GI, the arrangement extends a single-state Alaska practice into multiple states and eventually the entire country, without the expense and delay of constructing the physical infrastructure normally needed for such growth.
“Pioneer GI’s commitment to bringing care to underserved populations is exceptional and clearly demonstrated through their partnership and investment in Gazuntite,” said John E. Harrison, CEO of Gazuntite. “Gastroenterology is among the top specialties needed on the front lines of care, representing about 8 to 10% of everything a primary care doctor refers out in these communities. In the areas we serve, that referral often means a two-hour drive each way and a wait of more than 100 days. Pioneer decided to take action and place their expertise where it makes the biggest impact—with the PCP, before the patient is sent anywhere.”
The disparity is well known. Rural counties have roughly 98 active physicians per 100,000 residents compared with 286 in urban counties, and the gap is even starker in specialty care. Urban areas have more than eight times as many gastroenterologists per capita as rural areas, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, and rural patients travel three to four times farther for specialty care than their urban counterparts.
“We have devoted our careers to delivering gastroenterology to people who cannot easily come to us—in Alaska that sometimes means a plane ride,” said Dr. Ajay Pabby, Managing Partner of Pioneer GI and Gazuntite’s GI Service Line Director. “Now that reach is not only far simpler but extends well beyond our own clinic walls. Through the Gazuntite Specialist Decision Support platform, we will be able to resolve roughly 60 to 70% of non-procedural GI questions by coordinating care directly with the PCP. This transforms the game for us and for patients. It is thrilling to be at the forefront of healthcare innovation.”
Distance affects who gets diagnosed in time, and colorectal cancer highlights the issue. From 1999 to 2023, the age-adjusted colorectal cancer death rate was 23.2 per 100,000 in nonmetropolitan counties versus 18.7 in metropolitan counties—a 24% difference—and the rural decline plateaued after 2014 while urban rates continued to drop. The scarce resource in these communities is not advice; it is the procedure slot and the journey to get there. Specialist guidance at the point of the question determines who needs an immediate colonoscopy, who can wait for a routine appointment, and which patients should be prioritized.
“Travel time and time off work are major obstacles for patients and result in a very high no-show rate,” said Dr. Nicolas Villa. “This means patients do not receive the specialist treatment plan they need to slow or, in some instances, stop disease progression. Often they end up in the ER. Through Gazuntite, we can deliver our gastroenterology guidance to the PCP so the patient gets treated in their own medical home. That has a profound effect on total cost of care and, most importantly, on patient health outcomes.”
The largest program of its kind confirms these results. After the Veterans Health Administration introduced eConsults ahead of specialty referrals, time to treatment dropped from months to days, downstream costs fell by up to 40% in certain specialties, and 60% of patients turned out not to need a specialist visit at all. In a rural safety-net population in Texas, the average wait for a face-to-face specialty visit fell from 107 days to 20 days after eConsults were implemented. A 2026 study of rural provider-to-provider consultations found that clinicians reported 35% of consults prevented an emergency department visit.
“A side effect of integrating specialists like us into safety-net clinics is that the clinics retain patients and thereby strengthen their own financial position,” said Dr. Miguel Ordonez. “Leakage is a real issue for primary care, both in lost revenue and disease progression. Take inflammatory bowel disease. Much of that care is medical, not procedural, and it can be managed remotely: choosing and monitoring therapy, handling a flare, deciding when a scope is truly necessary. Expanding a clinic’s care services keeps the patient in-house along with the associated reimbursements, while improving outcomes, cutting ER visits, and boosting medication adherence.”
“Many of our patients postpone care because of the cost of getting here—a day of lost wages, a long drive, sometimes a flight, and some are handling all of that in a second language,” said Dr. Mariajose Rojas. “Working through the primary care team eliminates most of those barriers. The patient hears the plan from a clinician they already trust, and when a procedure really is the answer, we have identified it early instead of months later. For an interventional endoscopist, that is the best use of our time and our patients’ time.”
Gazuntite’s Founding Specialist status comes with equity, a share of the service line, and clinical authority over it. Gazuntite is now recruiting founding groups for its other specialty lines.
Thanya Wandee
Gazuntite
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
